Duolingo French Tips & Notes
Duolingo French Tips & Notes
Duolingo French Tips & Notes
Basics 1 .......................................................................................................................................1
Articles ...............................................................................................................................2
Elisions ...............................................................................................................................2
Contractions ......................................................................................................................2
Basics 2 ...................................................................................................................................3
Plurals .................................................................................................................................3
Tu or Vous? .......................................................................................................................3
Agreement .........................................................................................................................3
Ah, L'Amour ......................................................................................................................4
Phrases ..................................................................................................................................5
Bonjour! .............................................................................................................................5
Idioms .................................................................................................................................5
Liaisons ..............................................................................................................................5
Enchaînement ...................................................................................................................6
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Food ........................................................................................................................................7
Animals ..................................................................................................................................9
Flirting ..................................................................................................................................11
Tu .......................................................................................................................................11
Pronunciation .................................................................................................................11
Adjectives ............................................................................................................................12
Agreement .......................................................................................................................12
Euphony ...........................................................................................................................13
Plurals ...................................................................................................................................14
Punctuation .....................................................................................................................14
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To Be and To Have ........................................................................................................15
Clothing ................................................................................................................................17
Diacritics ..........................................................................................................................17
Colors ...................................................................................................................................18
Possesives ..........................................................................................................................19
Demonstratives 1 ...............................................................................................................23
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Ça .......................................................................................................................................23
Ça or Ce? .........................................................................................................................24
Conjunctions 1 ...................................................................................................................25
Questions .............................................................................................................................26
Inversions ........................................................................................................................26
Intonation .........................................................................................................................26
Interrogatives ..................................................................................................................26
Adjectives 2 .........................................................................................................................31
Grand or Gros? ...............................................................................................................31
Pronouns .............................................................................................................................32
On ......................................................................................................................................32
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Direct Object Pronouns ................................................................................................32
Prepositions 1 .....................................................................................................................35
Numbers 1 ...........................................................................................................................37
Family ...................................................................................................................................38
Possessives 2 .....................................................................................................................39
Demonstratives 2 ...............................................................................................................40
Ceci and Cela ..................................................................................................................40
Jour or Journée? ............................................................................................................43
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Causative Faire ...............................................................................................................45
Adverbs 1 .............................................................................................................................46
Occupations ........................................................................................................................48
Negatives .............................................................................................................................49
Conjunctions 2 ...................................................................................................................51
Adverbs 2 .............................................................................................................................53
Objects .................................................................................................................................54
Cognates ..........................................................................................................................54
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Adjectives 3 .........................................................................................................................55
Determiners .....................................................................................................................55
Prepositions 2 .....................................................................................................................57
Places ...................................................................................................................................59
People ...................................................................................................................................62
Present 3 ..............................................................................................................................63
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Translating the Imperfect .............................................................................................66
Auxiliaries ........................................................................................................................68
Numbers 2 ...........................................................................................................................73
Possessives 3 .....................................................................................................................76
Demonstratives 3 ...............................................................................................................77
Adjectives 4 .........................................................................................................................78
Neuf ...................................................................................................................................78
Pronouns 2 ..........................................................................................................................79
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Disjunctive Pronouns ...................................................................................................80
Quelque ............................................................................................................................81
Infinitives 2 ..........................................................................................................................82
Register ............................................................................................................................83
Faire vs Rendre ..............................................................................................................83
Adverbs 3 .............................................................................................................................86
Infinitives 3 ..........................................................................................................................91
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Rules and trends : ..........................................................................................................95
Conjugation: ....................................................................................................................95
Conjugation .....................................................................................................................98
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Basics 1
Genders
French has two grammatical genders: masculine and feminine. All nouns have a gender that
you must memorize. Sometimes, the gender can be obvious: une femme ("a woman") is
feminine. Other times, it's not obvious: une pomme ("an apple") is also feminine.
Subject-Verb Agreement
Notice above that the verb manger (as well as its English equivalent, "to eat") changes form to
agree grammatically with the subject. These forms are called conjugations of that verb.
Here are some conjugations for verbs you'll encounter in this unit:
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Articles
Articles (e.g. "the" or "a") provide context for a noun. In English, articles may be omitted, but
French nouns almost always have an article. French has three types of articles:
Definite articles ("the") are used with specific nouns that are known to the speakers, as
in English, but also to indicate the general sense of a noun, unlike in English.
Indefinite articles ("a"/"an"/"one") are used for countable nouns that are unspecified or
unknown to the speakers.
Partitive articles ("some"/"any") indicate a quantity of something uncountable.
Elisions
Le and la become just l' if they're followed by a vowel sound. This is an example of elision, which
is the removal of a vowel sound in order to prevent consecutive vowel sounds and make
pronunciation easier. Elisions are mandatory—for instance, je aime is incorrect. It must be j'aime.
These other one-syllable words can also elide: je, me, te, se, de, ne, and que. Tu can also be
elided in casual speech, but not in writing (including on Duolingo).
Contractions
In a contraction, two words combine to form one shortened word. For instance, the partitive
article du is a contraction of the preposition de with le.
du pain — (some) bread
However, since du can create vowel conflicts, when it would appear in front of a vowel sound, it
takes the elided de l' form instead. This is also the case for de la.
de l'ananas [masc.] — (some) pineapple
de l'eau [fem.] — (some) water
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Basics 2
Plurals
Many French words have plural forms. Plural nouns and adjectives often end in -s, though the S
is usually silent.
homme ("man") ⇒ hommes ("men")
femme ("woman") ⇒ femmes ("women")
chat noir ("black cat") ⇒ chats noirs ("black cats")
There are also plural forms for pronouns and verb conjugations. Consider parler ("to speak"):
Tu or Vous?
French has two words for the subject pronoun "you": tu and vous. For a singular "you", tushould
only be used for friends, peers, relatives, children, or anyone else who's very familiar to you. In all
other cases and also for plurals, the more polite vous should be used to show respect. When in
doubt, use vous.
Agreement
Pronouns, adjectives, and articles must agree with their nouns in both gender and number.
Consider the examples below and note how the article and adjective change to agree with each
noun.
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Continuous Tenses
English has two present tenses: simple ("I write") and continuous ("I am writing"), but French
has no specialized continuous verb tenses. This means that "I write", "I am writing", and "I do
write" can translate to j'écris (not je suis écris) and vice versa.
However, the idiomatic phrase « être en train de » is often used to indicate that someone is in the
process of doing something.
Je suis en train de manger. — I am [in the process of] eating.
When translating, remember that English stative verbs have no continuous forms. For
instance, « j'aime un garçon » cannot be translated as "I am loving a boy".
Ah, L'Amour
Love is tricky in France. For people and pets, aimer means "to love", but if you add an adverb,
like in aimer bien, it means "to like". For everything else, aimer only means "to like". Adorer can
always mean "to love", though it tends to be more coy than aimer.
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Phrases
Bonjour!
Bonjour is a universal greeting that can be spoken to anyone at any time. In France, greeting
people is very important, and some will even say bonjour aloud when entering a public room or
bus. Bon après-midi is often used as a farewell in the afternoon, while bonsoir is an evening
greeting.
Greetings: bonjour, bonsoir (plus bon matin in Québec only)
Farewells: bonne journée, bon après-midi, bonne soirée, bonne nuit
Idioms
Many words or phrases cannot be translated literally between English and French because their
usages are idiomatic. For instance, consider « Ça va ? », which means "How are you?" The
literal translation of the French is "That goes?", but this is nonsensical in English. It is very
important to identify idioms in both languages and learn how to translate them properly.
Liaisons
In a liaison, an otherwise silent ending consonant is pushed to the next word, where it's
pronounced as part of the first syllable. Like elisions, this prevents consecutive vowel sounds.
Liaisons are possible whenever a silent ending consonant is followed by a word beginning in a
vowel sound, but some liaisons are mandatory and others are forbidden.
Note that some consonants take on a different sound in liaisons to reduce ambiguity.
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-f V neuf ans ("nuh-vahn")
There are no ironclad liaison rules, especially across regions. Casual speech tends to have fewer
than formal speech. Also, when speaking slowly, liaisons are often omitted. This is why liaisons
disappear in the slow versions of listening exercises. Be careful of this.
Enchaînement
In enchaînements, ending consonant sounds are pushed onto the next word if it begins in a
vowel. This is essentially the same as a liaison, except that the consonant sound wasn't silent
beforehand. For instance:
elle est is pronounced like "eh-lay".
mange une pomme is pronounced like "mahn-jun-pom".
You will learn more about impersonal expressions in "V. Pres 1".
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Food
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Omitted Articles
When an article is missing in an English sentence, it must be added to the French translation.
The definite article can be used to fill this void in three situations:
1. Almost anywhere one would use "the" in English (i.e. when referring to specific things).
2. Before the subject of a sentence to state general truths about it.
3. Before the direct object of a verb of appreciation (like aimer) to express like/dislike.
If any of the above is true, then use the definite article. Otherwise, use the indefinite or partitive,
depending on whether or not the noun is countable.
Also, the French definite article can be ambiguous when translating from French to English. It can
often refer to both a specific noun and the general sense of a noun.
Les chats sont des animaux. — Cats are animals. / The cats are animals.
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Animals
Noun Genders
One of the most difficult aspects of learning French is memorizing noun genders. However, by
spending some time now memorizing the following patterns, you may be able to guess most
nouns' genders and save yourself a lot of trouble in the future.
Some nouns, like l'élève ("the student"), have the same spelling and meaning in both forms.
Other nouns have the same spelling, but have different meanings. Un tour is a tour, while une
tour is a tower. There are also nouns that only have one possible gender. Even a baby girl is un
bébé, for instance. Many masculine nouns can be changed to a feminine form simply by adding
an -e to the end. Your male friend is un ami and your female friend is une amie.
Some genders depend on a noun's classification. For instance, languages, days of the week,
months, seasons, metals, colors, and measurements are mostly masculine.
Otherwise, memorizing word endings is the best way to guess genders. We'll learn these ending
patterns in four steps:
First: Nouns ending in -e tend to be feminine. All others, especially nouns ending in consonants,
tend to be masculine. This is true for over 70% of all nouns.
Second: Nouns that have the endings -ion and -son tend to be feminine, even though they end in
consonants.
Third: Some nouns ending in -e are usually masculine, especially nouns with the following
endings:
-tre, -ble, -cle (think "treble clef")
-one, -ème, -ège (think "OMG")
-age, -isme
Fourth: Watch out for these complications:
-é is masculine, but -té is feminine.
le résumé (masc) — the resumé
la liberté (fem) — the liberty
-de is masculine, but -ade, -nde, and -ude are feminine.
le guide — the guide
la parade — the parade
-ste and -me tend to be masculine, but there are dozens of exceptions. Words for people
ending in -ste are often gender-neutral, e.g. le/la cycliste.
-eur is masculine for most professions or technical terms, but it's feminine for some
emotions and abstract things.
le chauffeur — the driver
la peur — the fear
That's it! Memorize these, and you'll be able to guess most noun genders.
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Feminine Animals
In French, female animal nouns are generally formed as follows by taking the last consonant,
doubling it, and adding a mute -e to the end.
un chat ⇒ une chatte
un chien ⇒ une chienne
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Flirting
Tu
Tu is not pronounced like the English "too". The French [u] (or German [ü]) is a sound that isn't
found in English. A tip to learn this sound is to shape your mouth like you're about to say the "oo"
(in "too"), but say "ee" (in "tee") instead. Practice this until it feels natural.
Pronunciation
ENDINGS
French word endings tend to be particularly difficult for beginners, largely because ending
consonants are usually silent, but they do affect preceding vowel sounds.
THE MUTE E
When a consonant is followed by a mute -e, then the consonant should be pronounced. This is a
way of distinguishing masculine and feminine forms verbally. Any unaccented -eat the end of a
word is always mute except in a single-syllable word like le, which sounds somewhat like "luh".
The letter E often becomes mute in the middle of a word, especially if it would add a syllable. For
instance, most Francophones pronounce appeler ("to call") as "app-LAY", not "app-pe-LAY".
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Adjectives
Agreement
Unlike English adjectives, French adjectives must agree in number and gender with the nouns
that they modify. A black dog is un chien noir, but a black dress is une robe noire. Also,
remember that some adjectives have the same masculine and feminine form, especially those
ending in a silent -e (e.g. riche).
When used with pronouns, adjectives agree with the noun that has been replaced. This is
particularly tricky with the formal vous: to a singular man, you would say vous êtes beau, but to
plural women, you would say vous êtes belles.
Adjective Placement
In French, most adjectives appear after the nouns they modify. For instance, le chat noir.
However, some adjectives precede the noun. You can remember these types of nouns using the
mnemonic BANGS.
B is for beauty. Une belle femme — A beautiful woman
A is for age. Une jeune fille — A young girl
N is for number. Deux hommes — Two men
This can also be for rank: Le premier mot — The first word
G is for good or bad. Un bon garçon — A good boy
S is for size. Un gros chat — A fat cat
All determiner adjectives (e.g. possessives, interrogatives, and demonstratives) appear before
the noun, e.g. mon livre ("my book") and ce cochon ("that pig"). You will learn these later.
Figurative Adjectives
A few adjectives can come both before and after the noun depending on their meaning. The most
common example is grand, which is a BANGS adjective for everything but people. For people, it
comes before a noun when it means "important" and after the noun when it means "tall". For
instance, Napoleon was un grand homme ("a great man"), but not un homme grand ("a tall man").
Usually, figurative meanings will precede the noun, while literal meanings will follow the noun.
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Euphony
As you have already learned, elisions, contractions, liaisons, and enchaînements are all designed
to prevent consecutive vowel sounds (which is called hiatus). This quest for harmonious sounds
is called euphony and is an essential feature of French. It has, however, created some
unexpected rules.
For instance, the masculine beau ("beautiful") changes to bel if its noun begins with a vowel
sound. A beautiful man is un bel homme. The other two common changes are vieux to vieil ("old")
and nouveau to nouvel ("new").
Note that this doesn't occur to feminine adjectives because they usually end in silent vowels.
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Plurals
Most plural forms of nouns and adjectives can be formed by appending an -s to the singular, but
remember that this -s is usually silent.
Le chat noir — The black cat ⇒ Les chats noirs — The black cats
Un chat noir — A black cat ⇒ Des chats noirs — (Some) black cats
Note: If the noun is preceded by an adjective, des becomes de.
Un petit chat — A little cat ⇒ De petits chats
Articles must agree with the nouns they modify, so plural nouns require either les or des. This is a
great way to tell if a noun is plural. If you hear les or des (which sound similar to "lay" and "day"),
then the noun is plural. If not, it's probably singular.
Remember that verbs change conjugation to agree with their subjects in both grammatical person
and number.
Punctuation
There are no quotation marks in French. Instead, the French use guillemets (« »). Exclamation
marks (!), question marks (?), colons (:), semicolons (;) and guillemets need to have a space on
either side.
Incorrect: "Ça va?"
Correct: « Ça va ? »
When writing numbers in French, commas are decimal points, while spaces mark thousands
places.
Incorrect: 1,235.8
Correct: 1 235,8
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Verbs 1: Être/Avoir
To Be and To Have
Être and avoir are the most common verbs in French. Like many common verbs, they have
irregular conjugations.
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C'est or Il Est?
When describing people and things with être in French, you usually can't use a personal subject
pronoun like elle. Instead, you must use the impersonal pronoun ce, which can also mean "this"
or "that". Note that ce is invariable, so it can never be ces sont.
Idioms with Avoir
One of the most common idioms in French is the use of the verb avoir in certain places where
English would use the verb "to be". This is especially common for states or conditions that a
person may experience.
Elle a chaud. — She is hot. (Or "She feels hot.")
Il a froid. — He is cold.
Elle a deux ans. — She is two years old.
J'ai peur ! — I am afraid!
French tends to use the verb faire ("to do") idiomatically for general conditions like weather. Note
that il fait is an impersonal expression with no real subject, just like il y afrom "Common Phrases".
Il fait chaud. — It is hot (outside).
Il fait froid. — It is cold.
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Il fait nuit. — It is nighttime.
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Clothing
Idiomatic Plurals
English has a number of idiomatic plural-only nouns that have to be translated carefully. These
are not just nouns that are invariable with number (like "deer"), but rather nouns that cannot refer
to a singular thing at all.
For instance, "the pants" can only be plural in English, but the corresponding le pantalonis
singular in French. A single pair of pants is not les pantalons, which refers to multiple pairs of
pants. Similarly, when translating le pantalon back to English, you can say "the pants" or "a pair
of pants", but "a pant" is not correct. This also applies to un jean ("a pair of jeans").
Un vêtement refers to a single article of clothing, and it's incorrect to translate it as "clothes",
which is plural and refers to a collection of clothing. This would have to be des vêtements.
Diacritics
The acute accent (é) only appears on E and produces a pure [e] that isn't found in English. To
make this sound, say the word "cliché", but hold your tongue perfectly still on the last vowel to
avoid making a diphthong sound.
The grave accent (è) can appear on A/E/U, though it only changes the sound for E (to [ɛ], which
is the E in "lemon"). Otherwise, it distinguishes homophones like a (a conjugated form of avoir)
and à (a preposition).
The cedilla (ç) softens a normally hard C sound to the soft C in "cent". Otherwise, a C followed
by an A, O, or U has a hard sound like the C in "car".
The circumflex (ê) usually means that an S used to follow the vowel in Old French or Latin. (The
same is true of the acute accent.) For instance, île was once "isle".
The trema (ë) indicates that two adjacent vowels must be pronounced separately, like
in Noël ("Christmas") and maïs ("corn").
Nasal Vowels
There are four nasal vowels in French. Try to learn these sounds by listening to native speakers.
These aren't always nasalized. If there's a double M or N, or if they are followed by any vowel,
then the vowel should have an oral sound instead. For instance, un is nasal, but une is not.
Also, vin is nasal, but vinaigre is not.
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Colors
Colors can be both nouns and adjectives. As nouns, colors are usually masculine.
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Possesives
Possessives have different forms that agree with four things: the number of owners, the number
of things owned, the gender of the thing owned, and the grammatical person of the owner (e.g.
"his" versus "my").
Examples:
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Euphony in Possessives
For the sake of euphony, all singular feminine possessives switch to their masculine forms when
followed by a vowel sound.
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Verbs: Present 1
Aller ("to go") is the only fully irregular verb in Group 1, but a handful of others are slightly
irregular.
Spelling-changing verbs end in -ger (e.g. manger) or -cer (e.g. lancer, "to throw") and change
slightly in the nous form, as well as any other form whose ending begins with an A or O. These
verbs take a form like nous mangeons or nous lançons.
Stem-changing verbs have different roots in their nous and vous forms. For instance, most forms
of appeler ("to call") have two L's (e.g. j'appelle), but the N/V forms are nous appelons and vous
appelez.
Semi-Auxiliary Verbs
The only true auxiliary verbs in French are être and avoir, but there are a number of semi-
auxiliary verbs in French that can be used with other verbs to express ability, necessity, desire,
and so on. They are used in double-verb constructions where the first verb (the semi-auxiliary)
is conjugated and the second is not.
Je veux lire. — I want to read.
Il aime manger. — He likes to eat.
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Modal verbs are the English equivalents of semi-auxiliaries—for instance, "can", which translates
to either savoir or pouvoir. When "can" indicates knowledge, use savoir.
Je sais lire et écrire. — I know how to read and write.
Il sait parler allemand. — He knows how to speak German.
When "can" indicates permission or ability (apart from knowledge), use pouvoir.
Il peut manger. — He can (or "may") eat.
Il peut parler allemand. — He is allowed to speak German.
One of the most important semi-auxiliary verbs is aller, which is used to express the near future
(futur proche), just like the English verb "going to".
Je vais manger. — I am going to eat.
Vous allez lire le livre. — You are going to read the book.
Note that in verb constructions beginning with non-auxiliary verbs, the verbs must be separated
by a preposition.
Impersonal Expressions
A few defective impersonal verbs can only be used in impersonal statements and must be
conjugated as third-person singular with il. Remember that il is a dummy subject and does not
refer to a person.
Falloir means "to be necessary", and it often takes the form il faut + infinitive.
Il faut manger. — It is necessary to eat. / One must eat.
Il faut choisir. — It is necessary to choose. / One must choose.
Il faut can also be used transitively with a noun to indicate that it is needed.
Il faut du pain. — (Some) bread is needed.
Confusing Verbs
Used transitively, savoir and connaître both mean "to know", but in different ways. Savoirimplies
understanding of subjects, things, or skills, while connaître indicates familiarity with people,
animals, places, things, or situations.
Je sais les mots. — I know the words.
Je connais le garçon. — I know the boy.
Attendre means "to await", which is why it does not need a preposition.
Il attend son ami. — He is awaiting (or "waiting for") his friend.
One Each
The indefinite article doesn't always refer to just one thing. Sometimes, it can mean one thing
each. Consider these examples:
Ils ont un manteau — They have one coat / They each have one coat
Ils ont des manteaux — They have some coats / They each have some coats
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Demonstratives 1
Demonstrative Adjectives
Demonstrative adjectives ("this", "that", "these", and "those") modify nouns so they refer to
something or someone specific. They can be used in place of articles. Like other adjectives, they
must agree with the nouns they modify.
Ça
The indefinite demonstrative pronoun ça refers to an unnamed concept or thing. When it's
used as an object, it usually translates to "this" or "that".
Tu manges ça. — You are eating this.
Je veux ça. — I want that.
Ça can also be used as a subject, in which case it can also mean "it".
Ça sent bon. — It smells good.
Ça semble simple. — This seems simple.
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Ça or Ce?
A simple rule of thumb to follow is that ce should be used with être, including in the double-verb
constructions pouvoir être and devoir être.
C’est un très bon vin ! — This is a really good wine!
Ce sont des garçons. — They are boys.
Ce peut être triste en hiver. — It can be sad in winter.
Ce doit être ton fils. — It must be your son.
Ça should be used with all other verbs.
Ça va bien. — It's going well.
Ça dure un jour. — That lasts a day.
Ça m'intéresse beaucoup. — That interests me a lot.
However, when an object pronoun comes before être, then you must use ça, not ce. This is
relatively rare.
Ça m'est égal. — It's all the same to me.
Also, note that ça is informal and is usually replaced by cela ("that") or ceci ("this") in writing.
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Conjunctions 1
Conjunctions function by hooking up words, phrases, and clauses. This unit focuses
on coordinating conjunctions, which link two or more similar elements in a sentence. For
instance, et may be used to link two nouns together.
Je mange une pomme et une orange. — I am eating an apple and an orange.
Elle a un chien et un chat. — She has a dog and a cat.
For the most part, French coordinating conjunctions behave very similarly to their English
counterparts.
The conjunction car means "because", and it's usually reserved for writing. The subordinating
conjunction parce que is preferred in speech; you'll learn this in "Conjunctions 2".
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Questions
Inversions
The most formal way of asking a question is to use an inversion, where the verb appears before
its pronoun and the two are connected by a hyphen.
Boit-il ? — Does he drink? / Is he drinking? / He drinks?
Boivent-ils du lait ? — Do they drink milk? / Are they drinking milk? / They drink milk?
However, if the subject of the sentence is a noun, then the noun should appear before the verb,
although a pronoun still needs to appear afterwards.
If the verb ends in a vowel, the letter T must be inserted after the verb for euphony. This T is
chaîned onto the pronoun and is meaningless.
Est-ce Que
Est-ce que (pronounced like "essk") can be added in front of a statement to turn it into a
question. Remember that que elides in front of vowel sounds.
Est-ce qu'il boit ? — Does he drink? / Is he drinking?
Est-ce que c'est un problème ? — Is it a problem?
Est-ce qu'il a un chien ? — Does he have a dog?
Intonation
In informal speech, one of the most common ways to ask a question is simply to raise your
intonation at the end of a statement, like you'd do in English.
Il boit ? — Is he drinking?
Il pleut ? — Is it raining?
Interrogatives
An interrogative word introduces a question. French has interrogative adjectives, pronouns, and
adverbs.
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INTERROGATIVE ADJECTIVES
French has one interrogative adjective with four forms. It translates to "which" or "what"
depending on the context.
Singular Plural
Masculin
quel quels
e
Feminine quelle quelles
An interrogative adjective cannot stand alone. It must modify (and agree with) a noun, and that
noun must either be adjacent to it or separated by a form of être.
Quelle fille ? — Which girl?
Quel est le problème ? — What is the problem?
Quel is also an exclamatory adjective in statements.
Quelle chance ! — What luck!
Quel grand garçon il est ! — What a tall boy he is!
INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS
Unlike an adjective, an interrogative pronoun can stand alone. For instance, the interrogative
pronoun lequel can replace quel + noun. Note that it agrees with the noun it replaces.
Quel Form Lequel Form
Quel cheval ? — Which horse? Lequel ? — Which one?
Quels hommes mangent ? — Which men Lesquels mangent ? — Which ones eat?
eat?
Quelle robe est rose? — Which dress is pink? Laquelle est rose ? — Which one is
pink?
Quelles lettres ? — Which letters? Lesquelles ? — Which ones?
The most common interrogative pronouns are qui (for people) and que (for everything else).
However, the construction changes based on a number of factors. Qui is the only pronoun that
can start a question by itself, but both qui and que can be used with inversion.
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Qui and que can be very confusing because they can also be relative pronouns. Que can also be
a subordinating conjunction. You will learn these uses later.
INTERROGATIVE ADVERBS
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Verbs: Present 2
Group 3 Verbs
As you learned in "Verbs Present 1", Group 3 verbs are considered irregular, but some sparse
patterns do exist among the -ir and -er verbs in this group.
Among the G3 -ir verbs, some conjugate like dormir, while verbs like ouvrir conjugate as though
they're -er verbs. Note that singular conjugations of dormir drop the last letter of the root. Also,
while some -re verbs (such as attendre, entendre, and perdre) conjugate like vendre, dozens of
other conjugation patterns exist, so it's best to memorize each verb's conjugation individually.
In this example, "Ben" is the subject, "the ball" is the direct object, and "him" is the indirect object.
You can usually recognize indirect objects in English by looking for a preposition after a verb.
Identifying objects is important, especially in French.
French verbs can be tricky for Anglophones because some transitive verbs in French have
intransitive English translations and vice versa. Pay attention to this.
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Stative Verbs in English
Unlike dynamic verbs, which describe actions and processes, stative verbs describe states of
being—physical and mental states, possession, sensations, and so on. The most common stative
verb is "to be". Here are some other common examples:
Possessing: belong, get, have, own, possess
Feeling: hate, like, love, need, want
Sensing: feel, hear, see, smell, taste
Thinking: believe, know, recognize, think, understand
The most important detail about stative verbs is that they can't be used in continuous tenses in
English.
You may have noticed that some verbs can be both stative and dynamic based on context. For
instance:
Pay attention to this nuance when translating into English. This problem rarely occurs when
translating to French because it lacks continuous tenses.
Impersonal Expressions
A number of other impersonal verbs have to do with weather.
Confusing Verbs
Like their English counterparts, voir ("to see") and regarder ("to watch") differ based on the
subject's intention. If the subject is actively watching or looking for something, use regarder.
Otherwise, use voir.
Le chat regarde le poisson. — The cat is watching the fish.
Elle peut voir la ville. — She can see the city.
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Adjectives 2
Multiple Adjectives
When multiple adjectives modify a noun, they should come before or after the noun based on the
same rules as if they were the only adjective. This means that adjectives may straddle the noun if
one is a BANGS adjective.
On the other hand, when there are multiple nouns being described by one adjective, that
adjective takes the masculine plural by default.
However, if the nouns are all feminine, then they can take the feminine plural.
Grand or Gros?
Grand and gros can both mean "big", but they're only partly interchangeable.
Grand tends to be used for:
General size: La grande robe — The big dress
Height: L'enfant est grand. — The child is tall/big.
Area: La ville est grande. — The city is big.
Figurative size: La grande richesse — The great wealth
Importance: Un grand homme — A great man
Gros tends to be used for:
Thickness or volume: Une grosse boîte de petits-pois — A big can of peas
Fatness: Un gros chat — A fat cat
Things that are round: Une grosse pomme — A big apple
Seriousness: Un gros problème — A big (serious) problem
Faux Amis
Many English and French words look alike and share meanings. This is because English is
heavily influenced by French and Latin. However, there are faux amis ("false friends") that look
similar but do not have the same meaning. For instance, gros looks like "gross", but their
meanings are not the same. Be careful before assuming a French word's meaning based on its
English lookalike.
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Pronouns
On
On is a versatile and ubiquitous French indefinite subject pronoun. Francophones usually
say on to refer to "us", "them", or one or more unidentified persons. On is always masculine and
third-person singular, which is why conjugation charts often list il/elle/ontogether.
On mange. — We are eating.
On est seul. (Never On est seule/seuls/seules.) — We are alone.
On can also be used more formally in the passive voice or for general statements, much like the
English "one".
On doit dormir assez. — One must sleep adequately.
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En Replaces De + Noun
The adverbial pronoun en can be used to replace objects introduced by de. For instance, it can
replace a partitive article + noun.
Avez-vous de l'argent ? — Do you have some money?
Oui, j'en ai. — Yes, I have some.
En may replace nouns or pronouns in verb constructions that use de, like parler de ("to talk
about").
Marc parle de Peter ? — Is Marc talking about Peter?
Oui, il en parle. — Yep, he's talking about him.
Nouns in adverbs of quantity can also be replaced with en.
Achetez-vous beaucoup de livres ? — Are you buying a lot of books?
Oui, j'en achète beaucoup. — Yes, I am buying a lot [of them].
Notice that en always precedes the verb, but adverbs stay in place after the verb.
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The Reflexive Pronoun Se
A reflexive pronoun like se can be used to indicate that a verb acts upon the subject. Seis used
with all third-person subjects, regardless of gender and number.
Il s'aime. — He loves himself.
Il s'appelle comment ? — What's his name? (Lit, "He calls himself what?")
Elle se demande pourquoi. — She wonders why. (Lit, "She asks herself why.")
When se refers to a plural subject, it can also be reciprocal or mutual ("each other").
Ils s'aiment. — They love each other.
Les filles se parlent. — The girls speak to each other.
On se parle quand ? — When do we speak to each other?
On se voit bientôt. — We will see each other soon.
Certain pronouns can be added to the end of the sentence to differentiate between reflexive and
reciprocal uses if necessary.
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Prepositions 1
French prepositions can be difficult because their meanings and uses don't always line up to what
you would expect in English.
De and À
The most common French prepositions are de ("of"/"from") and à ("to"/"at"). These prepositions
can be used in many ways. For instance, they may indicate movement or location.
Nous allons à Paris. — We are going to Paris.
Il vient de Bordeaux. — He is coming from Bordeaux.
Je suis au restaurant. — I am at the restaurant.
Notice au above. De and à must contract with definite articles whenever they are adjacent.
Definite Article De À
le du au
la de la à la
les des aux
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Using Articles After De
Most articles can be used immediately after expressions and verbs ending in de, but they must
follow contraction and elision rules.
Elle parle beaucoup des (de + les) pâtes. — She speaks a lot about the pasta.
Que pensez-vous de la voiture ? — What do you think of the car?
Il a besoin d'un chien. — He needs a dog.
However, no article that already contains de may follow an expression, negative term, or verb
ending in de. This includes the partitives du and de la and the indefinite des. In this situation, the
article is removed so that only the naked de remains.
Elle mange beaucoup de frites. (Not de des) — She eats a lot of fries.
Je n'ai pas de pain. (Not de du) — I do not have (any) bread.
Il a besoin d'argent (Not de de l'**) — He needs (some) money.
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Numbers 1
Between 0 and 20, most French numbers are constructed similarly to English numbers. The main
difference is that French starts using compound numbers at dix-sept (17), while English continues
with single-word numbers until 21.
Number French
0 zéro
1 un
2 deux
3 trois
4 quatre
5 cinq
6 six
7 sept
8 huit
9 neuf
10 dix
11 onze
12 douze
13 treize
14 quatorze
15 quinze
16 seize
17 dix-sept
18 dix-huit
19 dix-neuf
20 vingt
Uses of Un
The word un (or une in feminine) can be used in a number of ways:
1. As an indefinite article ("a" or "an"), which is used to modify countable nouns that are
unspecified or unknown to the speakers.
un livre — a book
un éléphant — an elephant
2. As a numeral ("one"), which is a kind of adjective.
J'ai une seule question. — I have only one question.
3. As a pronoun ("one"). Like in English, French numbers can be used as pronouns. In
general, when you see a preposition like de after a number, that number acts as a
pronoun.
C'est un de mes enfants. — He is one of my children.
Je connais un de ces hommes. — I know one of those men.
Also, keep in mind that liaisons are forbidden before and after et.
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Family
Adults should use père and mère when referring to parents. The juvenile
forms, papa and maman, are generally used only by children, much like "papa" and "mama" or
"daddy" and "mommy" in English.
Refresher: C'est or Il Est?
You learned in "Être-Avoir" that you must often use the impersonal pronoun ce when describing
people and things with être. In general, use ce whenever être is followed by any determiner—for
instance, an article or a possessive adjective. Remember that ce is invariable, so use c'est for
singulars and ce sont for plurals.
C'est un homme. — He's a man.
Ce sont des chats. — They're cats.
C'est mon chien. — It's my dog.
This rule applies everywhere, including in questions, inversions, and subordinate clauses.
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Possessives 2
Possessive pronouns replace a possessive adjective + a noun. Like most other pronouns, they
agree in gender and number with the noun they replace.
Est-ce ton chapeau ? — Is that your hat?
Oui, c'est le mien. — Yes, it's mine.
For one owner, the forms of possessive pronouns follow a simple pattern:
For multiple owners, the articles vary with gender, but the pronouns do not:
The 2nd-person articles for multiple owners can be used for a single owner when speaking
formally.
l
Demonstratives 2
Ceci and Cela
Ceci ("this") and cela ("that") are the formal versions of the indefinite demonstrative
pronoun ça ("this" or "that"). These are used when pointing something out, referring to something
indefinite (like an idea), or referring back to something already mentioned.
Je connais cela. — I know about that.
Je veux ceci. — I want this.
Ceci is usually only used when making a distinction between "this" and "that". Otherwise, cela is
preferred in writing and ça is preferred in speech.
CE OR CELA?
Remember that ce can only be used with être, including devoir être and pouvoir être.
C’est un très bon vin ! – This is a really good wine!
Ce doit être ton fils. — It must be your son.
However, cela and ceci can also be used with être for emphasis.
C'est le mien. — It's mine.
Non, ceci est le mien. Cela est le tien. — No, THIS is mine. THAT is yours.
Cela/ceci/ça should be used with all other verbs.
Cela arrive souvent. — It happens often. / That happens often.
Ceci contient un bonbon. — This contains a candy.
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Demonstrative Pronouns
Demonstrative pronouns (e.g. "this one", "that one", "these", "those") replace a demonstrative
adjective + noun for the sake of avoiding repetition. Like most other pronouns, they agree in
gender and number with the noun they replace.
USAGE EXAMPLES
Demonstrative pronouns are often used in comparisons or choices between alternatives.
Ce tableau est moins beau que celui de Rembrandt. — This painting is less beautiful
than that by Rembrandt.
Quelle robe préfères-tu ? Celle de Paris ou celle de Tokyo ? — Which dress do you
prefer? The one from Paris or the one from Tokyo?
Je pense à celles qui sont en vacances. — I am thinking about the ones who are on
vacation.
Ce repas est pour ceux qui aiment les oignons. — This meal is for those who like
onions.
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Dates and Time
Describing Dates
The most formal way to express a date in French is with c'est. (Never use il est.)
C'est dimanche. — It's Sunday.
However, the most common way is to use nous sommes or on est. This construction is idiomatic
and does not directly translate to English.
Nous sommes vendredi. — It is Friday.
Aujourd'hui, on est mardi. — Today is Tuesday.
Note that while "today" is a noun and adverb in English, aujourd'hui cannot be used as a noun to
give a date, so you cannot say Aujourd'hui est mardi. However, hier, aujourd'hui, and demain can
be used as nouns when qualified by an adjective or another noun.
Demain est un autre jour. — Tomorrow is another day.
Hier était férié. — Yesterday was a holiday.
This construction can be used to express the month, though you must add en. Months aren't
capitalized in French.
Nous sommes en juillet. — It's July.
When denoting specific dates, put le and the date before the month. Also, French date
abbreviations take the form DD/MM/YY.
27/11/14 — C'est le 27 novembre 2014. — It's November 27, 2014.
02/10 — Nous sommes le 2 octobre. — It's October 2nd.
However, for the first day of the month, you must use the word premier.
01/04 — C'est le premier avril. — It's April 1st.
To express a relative time in the past, you can use il y a.
il y a huit jours — eight days ago
il y a deux ans — two years ago
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Jour or Journée?
A few words for dates and times have both masculine and feminine forms that are used in
different contexts.
The masculine forms are used for countable units of time and specific dates or moments. For
instance:
The feminine forms are used to express or emphasize a duration or the passing of time. They're
also used with most adjectives. For instance:
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Verbs: Infinitive
Verb conjugations are classified in two ways: tense and mood. Tenses reflect a time frame (e.g.
present tense), while moods reflect a speaker's attitude. So far, you've mainly used
the indicative mood (for facts and certainties), but it is only one of seven moods.
WITHOUT PREPOSITIONS
Infinitives are often the objects of conjugated semi-auxiliary verbs such as vouloir, pouvoir,
and aimer. You learned this in "Verbs: Present 1".
Ça va venir. — It is going to come.
Je veux danser. — I want to dance.
J'aime avoir un chat. — I like having a cat.
Infinitives can also act like nouns and can be used as subjects.
Here, note that French infinitives can often be translated as English gerunds (with an -ing
ending), especially when they're subjects.
Keep in mind that conjugated verbs should never come after prepositions.
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AFTER NOUNS
An infinitive can also modify a noun when used with de or à. It may take practice to decide which
preposition should be used, but in general, use de whenever the infinitive has an object.
Merci de laver les verres. — Thanks for washing the glasses.
Il prend le temps de manger une pomme. — He takes the time to eat an apple.
Use à when the verb in the sentence is avoir (with the translation "to have").
J'ai une décision à prendre. — I have a decision to make.
Il a un examen à préparer — He has an exam to prepare.
À can also be used to indicate the purpose of a noun.
une maison à vendre — a house for sale
l'eau à boire — drinking water
AFTER ADJECTIVES
Infinitives can be used with the construction il est + adjective + de to create impersonal
expressions. Remember from "Common Phrases" that an impersonal statement is one with a
dummy subject instead of a real one.
Il est possible de manger maintenant. — It is possible to eat now.
Il est nécessaire de boire de l’eau. — It is necessary to drink water.
However, if the subject il is a real thing instead of just a dummy subject, then you must
use à instead of de.
Cette tâche est facile à faire. — This task is easy to do.
C'est bon à savoir. — That's good to know.
To further illustrate the difference, consider these two different translations of "It is fun to read."
The first is a general statement, while the second is a statement about a real subject.
Causative Faire
Faire often appears before a verb to indicate that the subject causes something to happen
instead of performing it. It's often used in relation to foods.
Il fait bouillir le thé. — He boils the tea.
J'aime faire griller du poulet. — I like grilling chicken.
It can also be used to indicate that the subject has directed someone else to perform an action.
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Adverbs 1
Adverbs are invariable words that can modify verbs, adjectives, other adverbs, and more.
Adverb Placement
If an adverb modifies a verb, it usually follows right after it.
A long adverb that modifies a phrase can usually be relegated to the beginning or end of a
sentence.
Adverbs of Quantity
Imprecise quantities are expressed using adverbs of quantity, which are usually followed by the
preposition de.
Il a beaucoup de chiens. — He has a lot of dogs.
Il boit trop de bière. — He is drinking too much beer.
Recall that du, de la, and des cannot be used after expressions ending in de, such as adverbs of
quantity. Thus, des does not appear before chiens and de la does not appear before bière.
However, other articles can follow adverbs of quantity when the noun is specific.
Beaucoup des (de + les) amis de mon frère sont là. — Many of my brother’s friends are
here.
Je veux plus du (de + le) même. — I want more of the same.
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Comparatives and Superlatives
The adverbs plus ("more") and moins ("less") can be used with the conjunction que in
comparisons.
Ta sœur est plus jolie qu'elle. — Your sister is prettier than her.
Ils mangent moins que nous. — They are eating less than us.
To express equivalence, use aussi...que ("as...as").
Je suis aussi timide que mon père. — I am as shy as my father.
Adding a definite article before plus or moins creates a superlative. The definite article agrees
with the noun being modified.
C'est la plus jolie robe. — That's the prettiest dress.
Le plus grand arbre du monde est là. — The biggest tree in the world is there.
If the adjective should follow the noun, then the definite article must be repeated.
Je veux acheter le pain le moins cher. — I want to buy the least expensive bread.
C'est le livre le plus difficile à comprendre. — That's the most difficult book to
understand.
Bon, Bien, Mauvais, and Mal
In French, we have to deal with the good (bon and bien), the bad (mauvais and mal), and the ugly
(trying to decide which to use). Luckily, in most cases, bon and mauvais are adjectives
while bien and mal are adverbs.
C'est un bon chanteur. — He is a good singer.
Il chante bien. — He sings well.
Elle est bonne étudiante. — She's a good student.
Elle étudie bien. — She studies well.
C'est un mauvais homme. — He's a bad man.
Mon frère lit très mal. — My brother reads very badly.
Tu bois le mauvais vin ! — You're drinking the wrong wine!
L'anglais, ce n'est jamais que du français mal prononcé. (Georges Clemenceau) —
English is nothing but mispronounced French.
There are also a number of fixed expressions or special usages for bien. You are familiar with
some of these from "Common Phrases".
Bien ! — Good!
C'est très bien ! — That's very good!
Bien sûr. — Of course.
Also, remember that aimer normally means "to love" when directed at people and animals, but
adding bien reduces its meaning to "to like".
Elle l'aime. — She loves him.
J'aime bien mon ami. — I like my friend.
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Occupations
Remember that occupations (along with nationalities and religions) can act as adjectives when
used with être or devenir, so unlike in English, the French often drop the indefinite article
(un, une, etc.) before an occupation.
Je suis juge. — I am a judge.
Elle va devenir avocate. — She is going to become a lawyer.
However, if any specification follows the occupation, then the indefinite article must be added.
Genders in Occupations
Some occupations have the same form in both masculine and feminine.
Other occupations have a feminine form that's derived from the masculine:
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Negatives
A negation changes the meaning of a statement to its negative. Most French negations are
constructed out of two words that surround a conjugated verb.
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The negative conjunction ni can be used to add something to a negation and is similar to the
English "nor". Think of it as a negative form of et ("and"). Ni can be used instead of negative
adverbs or in addition to them.
Elle ne connaît ni toi ni moi. — She knows neither you nor me. (Or "She doesn't know
you or me.")
Je ne veux ni ce repas ni cette boisson. — I want neither this meal nor this drink.
Il ne fait pas chaud ni froid. — It is neither hot nor cold.
When ni coordinates multiple conjugated verbs, each verb must be preceded by ne.
Je ne lis pas, ni n'écris. — I don't read or write.
Il ne veut ni ne peut manger de la colle. — He neither wants nor is able to eat glue.
Word Order
When the negated verb has a pronoun object, it belongs right after ne.
Je ne l'aime pas. — I don't like it.
Je n'en ai pas. — I don't have any. (Lit: "I do not have some of it.)
When a negation is used with an inversion (to ask a question), the whole inversion must remain
inside the negation.
Extra adverbs that modify the verb usually come after the negation. Otherwise, they follow the
rules from "Adverbs 1".
Other Notes
In English, two negatives may make a positive, but in French, they usually don't. For instance,
consider ne...jamais rien, which is "never...anything", not "never...nothing".
Ils ne vont jamais rien perdre. — They will never lose anything.
Elle ne mange jamais rien. — She never eats anything.
The particle ne is often skipped or slurred in casual speech. It's also omitted for short phrases
that lack a verb.
Pas si vite ! — Not so fast!
Pas de problème. — No problem.
Remember that verbs of appreciation (e.g. aimer) require the definite article in French. Negations
are no different.
I don't like fish. — Je n'aime pas le poisson. (Not Je n'aime pas de poisson.)
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Conjunctions 2
Subordinating Conjunctions
In "Conjunctions 1", you learned about coordinating conjunctions, which link similar elements that
have equal importance in a sentence. However, in complex sentences, one clause may be
dependent on another.
Lorsque le garçon mange, la fille mange. — When the boy eats, the girl eats.
Pendant que je lis, il écrit. — While I read, he is writing.
TEMPORAL CONJUNCTIONS
Quand and lorsque both mean "when", but they aren't always interchangeable. Both can be
used for temporal correlations, but lorsque refers to one particular instance, while quand can refer
to one or multiple instances. Quand is also an adverb, so it can be used in questions. When in
doubt, use quand.
Je sortais quand/lorsque tu arrivais. — I was leaving when you were arriving.
Je mange quand j'ai faim — I eat when (whenever) I am hungry.
Quand mangez-vous ? — When do you eat?
Alors que, pendant que, and tandis que can indicate simultaneity.
Je mange alors que tu manges. — I eat while you eat.
Pendant que tu bois, je bois. — While you drink, I drink.
Alors que and tandis que can also indicate a contrast or contradiction, though this is rare
for tandis que.
Elle est grande, alors que je suis petit. — She is tall, whereas I am short.
Je mange alors que je n'ai pas faim. — I am eating even though I am not hungry.
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CAUSAL CONJUNCTIONS
Parce que, car, and puisque all mean "because" and describe some kind of cause-and-effect
relationship, but they aren't completely interchangeable.
Parce que is a subordinating conjunction that provides an explanation, motive, or justification.
Elle lit parce qu'elle a un livre. — She is reading because she has a book.
Parce qu'elle est jeune, elle est jolie. — She is pretty because she is young.
Car is similar to parce que, but it's a coordinating conjunction and thus cannot begin a sentence
or clause.
Je mange du poulet, car j'aime la viande. — I am eating chicken because I like meat.
Puisque is a subordinating conjunction that means "because" or "since" and gives an already-
known or obvious reason or justification.
Puisque il pleut, j'ai un parapluie. — Since it's raining, I have an umbrella.
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Adverbs 2
Constructing Adverbs
In English, many adverbs are constructed from adjectives by adding "-ly" to the end. For instance,
"quick" becomes "quickly". In French, add -ment to feminine adjectives to create adverbs.
facile (easy) ⇒ facilement (easily)
forte (strong) ⇒ fortement (strongly)
grande (great) ⇒ grandement (greatly)
However, if the masculine form ends in -nt, replace that ending with -mment instead.
constant (constant) ⇒ constamment (constantly)
prudent (prudent) ⇒ prudemment (prudently)
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Objects
Cognates
As you may have noticed, a lot of English vocabulary (vocabulaire) comes from French. This has
created many etymological patterns that you can use to your advantage when learning new
words. Consider the following suffix patterns:
-aire ⇒ -ary
ordinaire — ordinary
dictionnaire — dictionary
-eur ⇒ -er
chargeur — charger
serveur — server (waiter)
-tion / -sion ⇒ -tion
invitation — invitation
condition — condition
-ment ⇒ -ment
le document — the document
le gouvernement — the government
-ment (adverb) ⇒ -ly
probablement — probably
evidemment — evidently
-ique ⇒ -ical
logique — logical
électrique — electrical
-able ⇒ -able / -ible
responsable — responsible
indispensable — indispensable
Noun Adjuncts
Unlike English, French does not have noun adjuncts, which are nouns that modify other nouns.
Instead, you must use de or another preposition to make one noun modify another.
l'album de photos — photo album
la soupe de poulet — chicken soup
le hockey sur gazon — field hockey
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Adjectives 3
Determiners
You learned in "Basics 1" that almost all nouns must be preceded by an article. This isn't entirely
accurate. Rather, almost all nouns must be preceded by a determiner, which is a word that puts
a noun in context. As of this unit, you will have encountered every type of determiner.
Articles, as in le pantalon ("the pants").
Possessive adjectives, as in ton cochon ("your pig").
Cardinal numbers, as in deux chevaux ("two horses").
Interrogative adjectives, as in quel chat ? ("which cat?").
Exclamation adjectives, as in quelle chance ! ("what luck!").
Negative adjectives, as in aucune chance ("no chance!").
Indefinite adjectives, as in plusieurs jouets ("several toys").
There are very few exceptions to the rule that nouns must have a determiner. A few are verb-
based. For instance: names of professions, religions and a few nouns expressing a status
with être; names of languages with parler; and most nouns with devenir.
Je suis médecin. — I am a doctor.
Il est bon élève. — He is a good student.
Elle est victime de son succès. — She is a victim of her own success.
Paul était témoin à mon mariage. — Paul was a witness at my wedding.
Je parle anglais. — I speak English.
Il devient roi du Nord. — He becomes King of the North.
INDEFINITE ADJECTIVES
Indefinite adjectives like plusieurs, certains, quelques, and chaque references nouns in a non-
specific sense, akin to the way indefinite articles reference nouns.
L'enfant a plusieurs jouets. — The child has several toys.
Certains hommes sont mauvais. — Some (or "certain") men are bad.
J'ai quelques livres. — I have a few (or "some") books.
L’automne est un deuxième printemps où chaque feuille est une fleur. (Albert Camus) —
Autumn is a second spring where every leaf is a flower.
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Comparatives and Superlatives
In "Adverbs 1", you learned that you can use plus as a comparative and le/la/les plus as a
superlative.
C'est une plus jolie robe. — That's a prettier dress.
C'est la plus jolie robe. — That's the prettiest dress.
Bon ("good"), bien ("well"), and mauvais ("bad") also have comparative and superlative forms, but
they're irregular, just like their English counterparts.
Bon
To say "better" when referring to a noun, you can't just say plus bon. Instead, use meilleur, which
is a BANGS adjective with four inflections.
masc fem
sing meilleur meilleure
plur meilleur meilleures
s
Elle cherche un meilleur emploi. — She is looking for a better job.
Je veux de meilleures robes. — I want better dresses. (Remember
that desbecomes de when immediately followed by an adjective.)
For the superlative, just add a definite article before the adjective that agrees with it.
Bien
When "better" modifies an action or state of being, you must use mieux.
Il parle mieux japonais. — He speaks better Japanese.
Ça va mieux. — It is going better.
C'est Paul qui cuisine le mieux. — It's Paul who cooks the best.
Il les connait le mieux. — He knows them the best.
Mauvais
Unlike bon and bien, comparative and superlative forms of mauvais can either be regular
(with plus) or irregular (with pire).
C'est une plus mauvaise situation. — That's a worse situation.
Ça peut être pire. — That might be worse.
Ce sont les pires choix. — Those are the worst choices.
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Prepositions 2
Temporal Prepositions
Choosing a preposition for time depends on the situation, but multiple choices may be
appropriate.
DURATIONS
Pendant and durant are interchangeable and mean "during" or "for". These are versatile and can
be used for most expressions of duration.
Pendant l'été, il fait chaud. — During the summer, it is hot.
Je veux dormir pendant une semaine ! — I want to sleep for a week!
Elles peuvent rester durant un jour. — They can stay for a day.
Chaque matin, je cours pendant une heure. — Every morning, I run for an hour.
Depuis ("since" or "for") can be used for things that are still happening, and it's usually followed
by a start date or a duration. It's tricky because a French present-tense verb with depuis often
translates to an English present perfect verb.
Il pleut depuis hier. — It has been raining since yesterday.
Je te connais depuis deux ans. — I have known you for two years.
En ("in") indicates the length of time an action requires for completion and can be used with any
tense.
Je peux le finir en deux heures. — I can finish it in two hours.
Elle va lire le livre en une heure. — She is going to read the book in an hour.
Pour ("for") is the most limited choice and is only used with aller or partir for future events.
Il est en vacances pour une semaine. – He is on vacation for a week.
Je vais chez moi pour la nuit. — I am going home for the night.
REFERENCES
Use à to pinpoint exactly what time of day an event begins or to give the endpoint of a time range
in conjunction with de.
Le repas commence à midi. — The meal begins at noon.
La boutique est ouverte de 8.00 à 17.00. — The boutique is open from 8 to 5.
En can also indicate that an action took place in a particular month, season, or year. The
exception is spring, which requires au.
Je vais à Paris en avril. — I am going to Paris in April.
Je commence à bronzer en douceur en été. — I begin to gently sunbathe in summer.
Il va toujours chez lui au printemps. — He always goes home in spring.
Dans also means "in", but it gives the amount of time before an action will take place.
Elle va revenir dans 15 minutes. — She is going to return in 15 minutes.
Je vais t'appeler dans une demi-heure. — I'm going to call you in half an hour.
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Puzzling Prepositions
Chez can be combined with a pronoun or noun to refer to someone's home or workplace.
Je vais chez le dentiste. — I am going to the dentist's.
Elle est chez Kristy. — She's at Kristy's house.
Entre means "between", both literally and figuratively.
Il est entre deux fougères. — He is between two ferns.
Je te le dis, mais c'est entre nous. — I can tell you, but it's between us.
Parmi means "among" and indicates that something is part of a larger group of assorted people,
animals, or things.
Des lions sont parmi les animaux du zoo. — Lions are among the zoo animals.
Le chat dort parmi les chiens. — The cat sleeps among the dogs.
However, if the larger group is uniform in some specific way, entre can also mean "among".
Ici, nous sommes entre femmes. — Here, we are among women.
Nous pouvons parler librement entre collègues. — We can speak freely among
colleagues.
There are some situations where both entre and parmi are acceptable.
Il choisit entre/parmi les options. — He chooses between the options.
Devant and avant both mean "before", but devant is spatial while avant is temporal.
Je suis devant vous. — I stand before you.
Il mange avant nous. — He eats before us.
PEU
Using the word peu ("few"/"little") can be surprisingly complicated. By itself, peu is usually an
adverb that diminishes what it modifies and is generally translated using "not very/much/well".
Elle parle peu. — She doesn't talk much.
Il est peu probable. — It is not very likely.
Je vous connais peu. — I don't know you well.
Ce phénomène est peu fréquent. – This phenomenon is infrequent.
peu après — not long after
Appending de creates an adverb of quantity that modifies nouns.
Peu de femmes disent ça. — Few women say that.
Peu d'eau sur la Terre est potable. — Little of the water on Earth is drinkable.
However, peu can also be a noun, especially when preceded by an article.
Elle parle un peu de français. — She speaks a bit of French.
Tu veux manger un peu de fraises ? — Do you want to eat a few strawberries?
Oui, j'en veux un peu. — Yes, I want a few. (Or "a little".)
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Places
Spatial Prepositions
Expressing locations in French can be tricky because many English prepositions don't have one-
to-one French translations. This is especially true for "in", which can be dans, en, or à depending
on how specific the location is.
Dans means "in" for specific, known locations. It is especially appropriate when the location name
has an article or possessive.
Il mange dans le restaurant. — He's eating in the restaurant.
Un chat est dans ma chambre. — A cat is in my room.
Use à and its contractions for unspecific or vague locations.
On vit à la campagne. — We live in the country.
C'est dangereux à la frontière. — It's dangerous at the frontier.
When describing a location that doesn't require a determiner (usually a type of place), use en.
Nous sommes en classe. — We are in class.
Elle est en prison. — She is in prison.
SPECIAL RULES
For all cities (and islands), use à for "to" or "in" and de for "from".
Le roi vit à Versailles. — The king lives in Versailles.
Nous allons à Paris. — We are going to Paris.
Napoléon vient de Corse. — Napoleon comes from Corsica.
Je l'envoie d'Orléans. — I am sending it from Orleans.
Countries, provinces/states, and continents have gender-based rules. For feminine
ones, en means "to" or "in" and de means "from". Luckily, all continents are feminine, as are most
countries ending in -e.
Bordeaux est en France. — Bordeaux is in France.
Il reste en Europe. — He is staying in Europe.
On vient de Californie. — We come from California.
Elle part d'Asie. — She is departing from Asia.
For masculine countries, provinces, and states that start with a consonant sound, use auand du.
Je veux aller au Québec. — I want to go to Quebec.
Elles partent du Japon. — They are departing from Japan.
If they start with a vowel sound, switch back to en and de for euphony.
Il y a une guerre en Irak. — There is a war in Iraq.
J'arrive d'Ontario. — I am coming from Ontario.
For countries with pluralized names (mainly the USA), use aux and des.
On travaille aux États-Unis. — We work in the United States.
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Using the Present for the Future
In both French and English, the present tense can often be used to express the near future (le
futur proché). In French, this usage is basically equivalent to aller + infinitive.
Je vais à Paris demain. — I am going to Paris tomorrow.
Demain c'est samedi. — It's Saturday tomorrow.
La fête commence demain. — The party begins tomorrow.
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Irregular Plurals
Most French nouns and adjectives can be pluralized by adding an ending -s, like in English.
Those that can't be pluralized like this normally will have plural forms that end in -x. For instance,
most nouns ending in -al or -ail change to -aux.
un animal ⇒ des animaux ("animals")
le travail ⇒ les travaux ("work")
Similarly, masculine singular adjectives ending in -al take on -aux endings in the plural. However,
feminine singular adjectives ending in -ale simply add an ending -s.
général -> généraux ("general")
générale -> générales ("general")
idéal -> idéaux ("ideal")
idéale -> idéales ("ideal")
Add -x to the end of most nouns that end in -au, -eau, and -eu to pluralize them.
un tuyau ⇒ des tuyaux ("pipes")
mon chapeau ⇒ mes chapeaux ("my hats")
le feu ⇒ les feux ("fires")
The plural forms of -au, -eau, and -eu words are homophones of their singular forms. In general,
the best way to tell if a noun is plural is to listen carefully to its article. If you hear les or des, it's
plural. Otherwise, it's probably singular.
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People
French nouns for persons of a certain nationality are capitalized, but in French, national
adjectives and language names are not capitalized.
However, as you learned in "Verbs: Present 2", English stative verbs cannot be used in
continuous tenses. You can only use them in simple tenses.
Mes amis aiment dormir. — My friends like to sleep. (Not "are liking".)
Il sait parler russe. — He knows how to speak Russian. (Not "is knowing".)
Generally, if a verb refers to a process, it's a dynamic verb; if it refers to a state or condition, it's a
stative verb. The most common stative verb is "to be", but here are some other common
examples:
However, some verbs can be either stative or active depending on context. For instance:
This restriction on using stative verbs in English continuous tenses will be particularly important in
the next few units.
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Present 3
Pronominal Verbs
A pronominal verb requires a reflexive pronoun, which is a special kind of pronoun that agrees
with and refers back to the subject. They're identical to direct object pronouns except for the third-
person se.
One type of pronominal verb, the reflexive verb, describes an action being done by the subject
to the subject.
Je me dis que ce n'est pas possible. — I tell myself that it isn't possible.
Vous vous levez. — You are getting up. (Lit, "You raise yourself".)
La femme se promène. — The woman goes for a walk. (Lit, "walks herself".)
Reflexive verbs include se in their infinitive forms (e.g. se promener). It isn't necessary to include
the reflexive pronoun in the English translation. Also, the reflexive verb should come after ne in
negations.
Ils se rasent. — They are shaving.
Elle ne se rase pas. — She doesn't shave.
The other kinds of pronominal verbs are reciprocal, passive, and subjective. You will learn these
later.
Pronoun Order
When two object pronouns modify the same verb, they always appear in a predefined
order: me/te/nous/vous/se > le/la/les > lui/leur > y > en.
Je vous la laisse. — I am leaving it for you.
Nous nous la réservons. – We reserve it for ourselves.
Ils nous le donnent. — They are giving it to us.
Ils le lui donnent. — They are giving it to him.
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Verbs with À and De
As you learned previously, à or de can appear after a verb to introduce an infinitive or object. You
should consider such a preposition to be an integral part of the verb that completes or changes its
meaning.
Je commence à manger. — I am starting to eat.
Ma nièce essaie de dormir. — My niece is trying to sleep.
Je pense à des éléphants roses. — I am thinking about pink elephants.
Que pensez-vous de ce film ? — What do you think of that film?
Il pense qu'elle est belle. — He thinks that she is beautiful.
However, recall from "Verbs: Present 1" that semi-auxiliary verbs can introduce other verbs
without needing a preposition.
Y REPLACES À + THING
For verbs appended with à (like penser à), the adverbial pronoun y can replace à + a thing.
Tu penses à l'examen ? — Are you thinking about the test?
Oui, j'y pense encore. — Yeah, I'm thinking about it again.
Il croit aux fantômes ? — Does he believe in ghosts?
Oui, il y croit. — Yes, he believes in them.
Venir De
In "Places", you learned that the present tense can be used to express the near future. Similarly,
the present tense can also express the recent past in the construction venir de+ infinitive, but
these should be translated to the simple past or present perfect in English.
Je viens de voir cela. — I just saw that.
Il vient de déjeuner. — He has just had lunch.
Confusing Verbs
Demander à means "to ask to" when followed by an infinitive.
Elle demande à payer avec des dollars. — She asks to pay with dollars.
However, when used with nouns, demander is particularly confusing because its direct and
indirect object are the opposite of its English counterpart, "to ask".
Je demande une baguette. — I ask for a baguette. (Not "I ask a baguette.")
Je demande une baguette à la boulangère. — I ask the baker for a baguette.
Je lui demande de me donner une baguette. — I ask her to give me a baguette.
lxxvi
Écouter means "to listen" in the literal sense of intentionally listening or paying attention to
something.
J'écoute de la musique. — I am listening to music.
Elle écoute la voix de la sagesse. — She listens to the voice of reason.
Entendre can mean "hear", "listen", or (rarely) "understand".
J'entends du bruit. — I hear noise.
Elle ne veut rien entendre. — She won't listen.
Manquer means "to miss", but the pronouns are flipped from its English counterpart. If it helps,
you can think of manquer as "to be missed by".
Vous me manquez. — I miss you.
Je vous manque. — You miss me.
Plaire à is commonly translated as "to like", but for grammatical purposes, think of it as "to
please" or "to be pleasing to".
La jupe plaît aux filles. — The girls like the skirt. / The skirt is pleasing to the girls.
Ça me plaît. — I like it. / That is pleasing to me.
The pronominal verb se lever ("to get up") means to physically get up from a non-standing
position, not to wake up.
sound.
lxxvii
Past Imperfect
The only irregular imperfect verb is être, which takes on an ét- root. However, for spelling-
changing verbs that end in -ger or -cer (e.g. manger), add an "e" to the root so the consonant
remains soft.
Kilroy était ici. — Kilroy was here.
Elle mangeait avec ses amis. — She was eating with her friends.
The imperfect describes situations, states of mind, and habits in the past. In a story, it sets the
scene or background; thus, it often translates to and from the English past continuous tense.
For repeated actions or habits, you can also use constructions with "used to" or "would".
A lot of confusion stems from the versatile English preterit (simple past), which overlaps both
French tenses. For instance, the preterit can also be used for habits.
As you learned in "Verbs: Present 2", stative verbs (e.g. "to be", "to think") usually can't be used
in English continuous tenses. When used in past tenses, they should translate to the preterit.
lxxviii
Il croyait son père. — He believed his father. (Not "was believing".)
Nous avions trois cousins. — We had three cousins. (Using "were having" would make
you a confessed cannibal.)
STATES OR SITUATIONS
Use the preterit here to describe mental or physical conditions, scenes, dates or times, weather,
etc. Remember that you should never use English continuous tenses for stative verbs. In the
examples below, "looked", "smelled", and "understood" are stative verbs.
Il était malade. — He was sick.
Elle avait froid. — She was cold.
Nous avions vingt ans. — We were twenty.
Tu semblais heureux. — You looked happy. (Not "were looking".)
Il était trois heures. — It was 3:00.
Vos fleurs sentaient si bon ! — Your flowers smelled so nice! (Not "were smelling".)
Elle comprenait mes sentiments. — She understood my feelings. (Not "was
understanding".)
Il y avait du vent. — It was windy.
Also, when using il y a in other tenses, conjugate avoir to match. For the Imperfect, it
becomes avait.
ACTIONS OR PROCESSES
The continuous past can be used here to set up a scene by describing an action or process.
Note that "was" and "were" are the preterit forms of "to be", but they are also auxiliary verbs for
the continuous past when used before another verb in gerund.
Note that you shouldn't use the past continuous here, but as mentioned before, you may use the
preterit, "used to", or "would".
lxxix
Compound Past
Compound verbs contain at least two words: a conjugated auxiliary and a participle. In this unit,
we will cover the passé composé (PC), which can translate to the English present perfect.
Elle a vu ce chien. — She has seen that dog.
Ils ont dit la verité. — They have told the truth.
In both languages, the compound verb begins with a conjugated auxiliary verb (avoirand "to
have" here) that agrees with the subject. A past participle (e.g. vu or "seen") follows the auxiliary.
Auxiliaries
In English, the active present perfect has only one auxiliary verb ("to have"), but the PC has
two: avoir and être. Most verbs use avoir.
J'ai été malade. — I have been sick.
Il a appelé un docteur. — He has called a doctor.
A handful of verbs use être. The mnemonic "ADVENT" may help you remember these.
lxxx
Past Participles
A participle is a special non-conjugated form of a verb. Most participles are formed by adding an
ending to a verb's root.
Unfortunately, most irregular verbs have irregular participles. For instance, the past participle
of venir is venu.
Il est venu. — He has come.
Les filles sont venues. — The girls have come.
Note that participles vary with gender and number just like adjectives.
PARTICIPLE AGREEMENT
A participle that follows avoir is usually invariable.
L'homme a mangé. — The man has eaten.
Les femmes ont mangé. — The women have eaten.
However, if a direct object appears before avoir, its participle agrees with the direct object.
Below, vues agrees with the plural feminine robes because les precedes the verb.
Tu as vu les robes ? — Have you seen the dresses?
Oui, je les ai vues. — Yes, I have seen them.
A participle that follows être agrees with the subject.
L'homme est venu. — The man has come.
Les hommes sont venus. — The men have come.
La femme est venue. — The woman has come.
Les femmes sont venues. — The women have come.
However, if a pronominal verb is intransitive, then the participle is invariable. For instance,
compare s'appeler (transitive) to se telephoner (intransitive).
Nous nous sommes appelés. — We called each other. (For a masculine nous.)
Nous nous sommes téléphoné. — We called each other. (For both genders of nous.)
lxxxi
Using the PC
Translating the past tense can be difficult because the English simple past (preterit) overlaps the
French passé composé and imparfait (taught in the previous unit). The PCcan translate to the
preterit when it narrates events or states that began and ended in the past. In this usage,
the PC often appears with expressions of time or frequency like il y a, which means "ago" when
followed by a duration.
La fille a mangé il y a cinq minutes. — The girl ate five minutes ago. (A single specific
event.)
Les enfants ont eu froid hier. — The children were cold yesterday. (A state on a specific
date.)
Je suis tombé(e) plusieurs fois. — I fell several times. (Multiple specific actions.)
Je suis déjà tombé(e). — I already fell. (An event in an undetermined time frame.)
The PC can also translate to the present perfect for actions and states that started in the past and
are still true.
Il n’a jamais mangé de pâtes. — He has never eaten pasta.
Tu as perdu tes clés. – You have lost your keys.
lxxxii
Compound Past 2
Combining Tenses
The imparfait and passé composé can work together in the same sentence. A verb in
the imparfait may be used as a background for an action given by a verb in the passé composé.
Elle chantait quand elle est arrivée. — She was singing when she arrived.
Vous m'avez téléphoné pendant que je dînais. — You called me while I was having
dinner.
Il dormait quand il a entendu un bruit. — He was sleeping when he heard a noise.
Je marchais quand je suis tombé. — I was walking when I fell.
Remember that while you shouldn't use English continuous tenses for stative verbs (such as "to
be"), any French verb can take the imparfait. Thus, you may often need to translate
the imparfait into the English preterit when dealing with verbs that describe background feelings
or states.
Je le savais mais je l’ai oublié. — I knew it but I forgot it. (Not "was knowing".)
Je connaissais l’histoire qu’elle a racontée hier. — I knew the story she told yesterday.
Je le comprenais, alors je l'ai accepté. — I understood it, so I accepted it.
Notice that the transitive versions of these verbs have a different meaning than the intransitive
versions.
lxxxiii
Advanced Participle Agreement
You learned in the first compound verb lesson that participles that follow an avoirauxiliary are
invariable unless a direct object (often a pronoun) precedes the verb.
Voici nos livres. Je les ai achetés hier. — Here are our books. I bought them yesterday.
Où est leur voiture ? Ils l'ont vendue ? — Where is their car? Did they sell it?
C’est la fille que j’ai vue. – She is the girl that I saw.
An avoir participle also agrees with any form of quel + a noun as long as the noun is the object of
the compound verb.
Quelle femme avez-vous vue ? — Which woman did you see?
Quels bonbons a-t-il achetés ? — Which candies did he buy?
This is also true for lequel (plus its other forms) and combien.
Laquelle des filles as-tu vue ? — Which of the girls did you see?
Lesquelles de ces chemises a-t-il aimées ? — Which of those shirts did he like?
Combien de robes ta fille a-t-elle achetées? — How many dresses did your daughter
buy?
Participles do not agree with indirect objects, y, nor en.
Je leur ai parlé. — I talked to them.
J'y ai pensé. — I thought about it.
Nous en avons vendu. — We have sold some.
C'est in the PC
In the present indicative tense, c'est can be used to identify or describe nouns. In the passé
composé, être takes avoir as an auxiliary. One consequence of this is that ceactually
becomes ç' because it must elide before the vowel beginnings of all forms of avoir while still
retaining its original soft consonant sound.
Ç'a été un succès ! — This has been a success!
Ç'a été un désastre ! — This has been a disaster!
Since this form is somewhat awkward, many Francophones prefer to use the imparfaitinstead.
C'était très agréable. — That was very pleasant.
C'était très bon pour l'économie. — This was very good for the economy.
In informal writing, you may also see the ungrammatical form Ça a été. When spoken, both "A"
sounds fuse into one long vowel. Erudite Francophones may also use ce fut as a subsitute. This
alternative uses the passé simple tense, one of French's literary tenses.
Ce fut bref mais intense ! — That was short but intense!
Ce fut une année très intéressante. — This has been a very interesting year.
lxxxiv
Numbers 2
Number French After seize (16), French starts combining a multiple of ten (e.g. dix)
0 zéro with a single digit (e.g. sept) to form a compound number (e.g. dix-
1 un
sept). English also does this starting after 20. This pattern remains
2 deux
3 trois in French numbers up to 60, but notice the et in the middle of 21,
4 quatre 31, 41, and 51.
5 cinq
6 six
7 sept
8 huit
9 neuf
10 dix
11 onze
12 douze
13 treize
14 quatorze
15 quinze
16 seize
17 dix-sept
18 dix-huit
19 dix-neuf
Number French
20 vingt
21 vingt-et-un
22 vingt-deux
23 vingt-trois
24 vingt-quatre
25 vingt-cinq
26 vingt-six
27 vingt-sept
28 vingt-huit
29 vingt-neuf
30 trente
31 trente-et-un
...
40 quarante
41 quarante-et-un
...
50 cinquante
51 cinquante-et-un
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Number French For 60 through 79, French combines soixante (60) with the
60 soixante numbers from 1 to 19. There is no separate word for
61 soixante-et-un
70.
62 soixante-deux
63 soixante-trois
64 soixante-quatre
Number French The same thing
65 soixante-cinq
66 soixante-six 80 quatre-vingts happens from 80-99,
67 soixante-sept 81 quatre-vingt-un
except notice
68 soixante-huit 82 quatre-vingt-deux
83 quatre-vingt-trois that quatre-vingts (80)
69 soixante-neuf
84 quatre-vingt-quatre has an ending -s while
70 soixante-dix
71 soixante-et-onze 85 quatre-vingt-cinq the rest of the set does
72 soixante-douze 86 quatre-vingt-six not. Also, notice that
73 soixante-treize 87 quatre-vingt-sept there is no et in 81.
74 soixante-quatorze 88 quatre-vingt-huit
75 soixante-quinze 89 quatre-vingt-neuf
90 quatre-vingt-dix This pattern does not
76 soixante-seize
91 quatre-vingt-onze appear in Swiss French,
77 soixante-dix-sept
78 soixante-dix-huit 92 quatre-vingt-douze which instead
79 soixante-dix-neuf 93 quatre-vingt-treize uses septante (70),
huitante or octante (80),
94 quatre-vingt-quatorze and nonante (90) with
95 quatre-vingt-quinze
the original pattern.
96 quatre-vingt-seize
97 quatre-vingt-dix-sept
98 quatre-vingt-dix-huit
99 quatre-vingt-dix-neuf
A noun can usually directly follow a number, but de must appear before nouns
for million and milliard
.
Il est distant de milliards d'années-lumières. — It is billions of light-years away.
Il y a soixante-cinq millions d'années — Sixty-five million years ago.
lxxxvii
Possessives 3
Possessive pronouns replace a possessive adjective + a noun. Like most other pronouns, they
agree in gender and number with the noun they replace. You first encountered these in
"Possessives 2".
Est-ce ton chapeau ? — Is that your hat?
Oui, c'est le mien. — Yes, it's mine.
Possessive pronouns take different forms depending on how many things are possessed. First,
let's take another look at the forms used when a single thing is possessed.
To change these to the forms used when multiple things are possessed, simply add an -sto the
end of the pronoun and change the definite article to les.
Note that the plural forms here are invariable with gender.
Ces enfants sont les miens. — These (or "those") children are mine.
Ce sont les tiens. — Those are yours.
Ces photos sont les siennes. — These photos are his (or "hers").
Ces jupes sont les leurs. — Those skirts are theirs.
Possessive pronouns act like modified nouns, so you must use ce/c' when referring to them
with être.
Est-ce ton fils ? — Is he your son?
Oui, c’est le mien. (Not il est) — Yes, he is mine.
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Demonstratives 3
Demonstrative pronouns (e.g. "this one" or "those") replace and agree with a demonstrative
adjective + noun. You learned four such pronouns in "Demonstratives 2".
Demonstratives like ce and celui are ambiguous and can mean either "this" or "that". To remove
this ambiguity, you can add a suffix to the end of each pronoun. Add -ci for "this/these" and -là for
"that/those".
Tu veux celui-ci. — You want this one.
Je préfère celle-là. — I prefer that one.
Celles-ci sont noires. — These are black.
Elle n'aime pas celles-là. — She doesn't like those.
These suffixes can also be used with demonstrative adjectives in many situations.
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Adjectives 4
Neuf
The adjective neuf ("new") describes something that has just been created or manufactured.
Don't confuse it with nouveau, which describes something that has just been acquired by a new
owner but may already be quite old. Remember that nouveau becomes nouvel in front of vowel
sounds.
J'achète seulement des sous-vêtements neufs. — I only buy new underwear.
Cette voiture est flambant neuve. — This car is brand-new.
Voici ma nouvelle montre ancienne. — Here's my new antique watch.
J'aime ton nouvel appartement. — I like your new apartment.
While neuf (new) and neuf (9) are homonyms, you can often distinguish them based on context.
For instance, neuf (9) comes before its noun, isn't accompanied by any articles, and is invariable.
J'ai neuf livres. — I have nine books.
J'ai des livres neufs. — I have new books.
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Pronouns 2
French has three sets of personal object pronouns: direct object pronouns (from "Pronouns 1"),
indirect object pronouns, and disjunctive pronouns.
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Indirect Objects
As you learned in "Verbs: Present 2", indirect objects are nouns that are indirectly affected by a
verb; they are usually introduced by a preposition.
Il écrit une lettre à Mireille. — He is writing a letter to Mireille.
Vous pouvez parler aux juges. — You can talk to the judges.
Elle parle de son amie. — She is talking about her friend.
A personal indirect object pronoun can replace à + indirect object. For instance, the first two
examples above could be changed to the following:
Il lui écrit une lettre. — He is writing a letter to her.
Vous pouvez leur parler. — You can talk to them.
Also, il faut can take an indirect object pronoun to specify where the burden falls.
Il lui faut manger. — He has to eat. / She has to eat.
Il nous faut le croire. — We have to believe it/him. / It is necessary for us to believe
it/him.
Disjunctive Pronouns
Disjunctive pronouns (a.k.a. stressed or tonic pronouns) must be used in certain situations. For
instance, only disjunctive pronouns can follow prepositions.
Il parle avec toi. — He speaks with you.
Elle pèse moins que moi. — She weighs less than me.
Ils sont rentrés chez eux. — They returned home.
C'est pour lui. — This is for him.
Note that lui can be masculine or feminine when it's an indirect object, but it can only be
masculine when it's disjunctive.
Je lui parle. (indirect object) — I am talking to him/her.
Je parle de lui. (disjunctive) — I am talking about him.
Je parle d'elle. (disjunctive) — I am talking about her.
The construction être + à + disjunctive pronoun indicates possession.
Le livre est à moi. — The book is mine.
Celui-là est à toi. — That one is yours.
Ceux-là sont à eux. — Those are theirs.
However, using à + pronoun is incorrect when a verb can accept a preceding pronoun.
Incorrect: Je parle à lui.
Correct: Je lui parle.
Disjunctive pronouns are also used for emphasis, for multiple subjects, or in sentence fragments
without a verb.
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Indirect Objects and Y
For most verbs, personal indirect object pronouns like lui can only refer to people or animals, but
you can use the adverbial pronoun y for inanimate things.
Elle ressemble à sa mère. ⇒ Elle lui ressemble. — She resembles her.
Ça ressemble à un robot. ⇒ Ça y ressemble. — It resembles it.
Some verbs allow personal pronouns like lui to be used with anything you can personify. These
verbs are dire à, demander à, donner à, parler à, téléphoner à, and ressembler à.
L’enfant parle à son jouet. ⇒ L’enfant lui parle.
Je demande un renseignement à la banque. ⇒ Je lui demande un renseignement.
Some French expressions don't allow any preceding indirect objects, notably être à, faire
attention à, s’habituer à, penser à, revenir à, and tenir à.
Tu fais attention à elle. (Not Tu lui fais...) – You are paying attention to her.
Il pense à elle. (Not Il lui pense...) – He thinks of her.
Remember that y can also refer to locations.
J'y vais. — I'm going there.
Il y était. — He was there.
Quelque
The indefinite adjective quelque ("some") can be combined with pronouns or nouns to create
indefinite pronouns. For instance, chose means "thing", so quelque chose means "something".
Nous écrivons quelque chose. — We are writing something.
Je veux manger quelque chose. — I want to eat something.
Quelque can combine and elide with un ("one") to give quelqu'un ("someone"), which is singular.
Quelqu'un est ici. — Someone is here.
Je connais quelqu'un au restaurant. — I know someone at the restaurant.
For multiple people or things, use the plural forms quelques-uns (masc) and quelques-
unes (fem), which are normally translated as "a few", or perhaps "some".
Ce sont quelques-uns de nos meilleurs amis. — These are a few of our best friends.
Quelques-unes de ces questions sont difficiles. — Some of these questions are difficult.
While quelqu'un only refers to people, quelques-un(e)s can refer to anything.
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Infinitives 2
As you learned in "Verbs: Infinitive 1", verbs in the infinitive mood are not conjugated and are
not paired with a subject pronoun. The infinitive is more versatile in French than in English. For
instance, an infinitive can act as a noun (where gerunds might be used in English).
Faire du café est facile. — Making coffee is easy.
Cuisiner et nettoyer sont ses responsabilités. — Cooking and cleaning are his
responsibilities.
In French, the infinitive is also used for generalized instructions like those in product manuals,
public notices, recipes, and proverbs.
Lire le mode d'emploi avant utilisation. — Read the instructions before using.
Garder hors de la portée des enfants. — Keep out of reach of children.
Battre les œufs. — Beat the eggs.
Vaut mieux prévenir que guérir. — It is worth more to prevent than to cure.
Conjugated verbs are the only verbs that can appear inside a negation, so when a negation is
used with an infinitive, both parts of the negation come before the infinitive.
An infinitive can also be used to pose a question. These sentences may not translate literally to
English.
Impersonal Expressions
Recall that the subject in the impersonal construction il est + adjective + de must be a dummy
subject. If it's a real subject, you must use à instead of de.
Il est impossible de vivre sur cette île. — It is impossible to live on that island.
Il est facile de comprendre le livre. — It is easy to understand the book.
Il est amusant de cuisiner. — It is fun to cook. / Cooking is fun.
Je n'aime pas ce livre. Il est difficile à comprendre. — I don't like this book. It's difficult to
understand.
Ce plat est bon parce qu'il est facile à cuisiner. — This dish is good because it is easy to
cook.
Il est difficile à faire. — It is difficult to do.
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Register
Communication in French can occur at several different levels of formality, which are
called registers. Different registers may vary in word choice, sentence structure, and even
pronunciation. For instance, the use of liaisons is relatively formal. By comparison, English verbal
formality is arguably less intricate.
The most obvious indication of register is pronoun choice. As you know by now, addressing
someone with the pronoun vous is considered more formal. This is described by the French
verb vouvoyer.
Il doit vouvoyer son professeur. — He must speak formally with his professor.
Je ne veux pas vouvoyer mes amis. — I don't want to address my friends formally.
The more familiar tu form should be used with friends, peers, relatives, or children. If you're not
sure who's a vous and who's a tu, consider matching the register of your interlocutor.
Alternatively, you can directly ask if you can speak informally by using the verb tutoyer.
Question structure is another key ingredient of register. Inversions are considered formal.
Use the conditional forms of aimer and vouloir for polite requests. More on this in the "Verbs:
Conditional" unit.
J'aimerais une tasse de café, s'il vous plaît. — I would like a cup of coffee, please.
Je voudrais vous remercier. — I would like to thank you.
Faire vs Rendre
In "Verbs: Present 1", you learned about the causative faire, which can indicate that the subject
has directed someone to perform an action. Notice that faire is followed by an infinitive here.
Je le fais réparer. — I am having it fixed.
Elle lui a fait perdre 5 kilos. — She made him/her/it lose 5 kilos.
Je leur ai fait faire de l’exercice. — I made them (get some) exercise.
The verb rendre ("to make") can also indicate that the subject has caused something to happen,
but it's used with adjectives instead of verbs.
Elle le rend heureux. — She makes him happy.
Ça me rend fou ! — That drives me crazy!
L'erreur a rendu le texte incomprehensible. — The error rendered the text
incomprehensible.
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Abstract Objects
There are many different ways to express need or obligation in French, but there is no single
expression that works in all situations. In "Verbs: Present 1", you learned the essential semi-
auxiliary verb devoir, which means "must", "have to", or "need to" when placed before another
verb.
Je dois manger plus de légumes. — I must eat more vegetables.
Ils doivent acheter plus de livres. — They need to buy more books.
Remember that the impersonal expression il faut + infinitive can also express a need or
obligation.
Il faut manger. — It is necessary to eat.
Il nous faut payer des taxes. — We have to pay taxes.
You can also use the impersonal construction from the last unit, il est + adj + de.
Il est nécessaire de reprendre le travail. — It is necessary to return to work.
Il est nécessaire de faire attention. — It is necessary to pay attention.
Another way to express obligation is avoir à, though this is rarely used by French speakers
because it tends to create vowel conflicts.
Je sais ce que j'ai à faire. — I know what I have to do.
J'ai quelque chose à vous dire urgemment. — I have something to tell you urgently.
What about when you want to say that you need something (instead of having to do something)?
One way you learned previously is to use il faut with a noun instead of a verb.
Il faut du lait. — Milk is needed.
Il faut un début à tout. — A beginning is needed for everything.
A more common expression for need is avoir besoin de quelque chose. While this literally
translates as "to have need of something", a better translation is "to need something".
J'ai besoin d'un stylo. — I need a pen.
Il a besoin d'eux. — He needs them.
Elles ont besoin de magazines en anglais. — They need magazines in English.
Vous avez besoin de ce produit. — You need this product.
Vous avez besoin de gagner plus d'argent. — You need to earn more money.
Mes amis ont besoin de manger. — My friends need to eat.
Notice that besoin is invariable in this expression, but the noun besoin ("need") is just a standard
masculine noun that does have a plural form.
Il a des besoins importants. — He has important needs.
Il y a un besoin urgent d'agir. — There is a pressing need to act.
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Consider the difference between "I don't have to" and "I must not". The former expresses a lack
of obligation, while the latter expresses an obligation to avoid an action. In French, to express a
lack of obligation, use a negation with avoir besoin de or avoir à.
Je n'ai pas besoin d'un stylo. — I don't need a pen.
Nous n'avons pas besoin de votre permission ! — We don't need your permission!
Elle n'a pas à parler. — She doesn't have to speak.
On n'a pas à manger maintenant. — We don't have to eat right now.
To express "must not" in French, use a negation with devoir or il faut.
Elle ne doit pas manger de poisson. — She must not eat fish.
Nous ne devons pas nous mentir. — We must not lie to each other.
Il ne faut pas réfrigérer les tomates. — One must not refrigerate tomatoes.
Il ne faut jamais oublier les leçons de l'histoire. — We must never forget the lessons of
history.
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Adverbs 3
In a compound tense like the passé composé, adverbs normally come between the auxiliary verb
and its participle.
J'ai rapidement fini mon travail. — I finished my work quickly.
Ils ont trop mangé. — They ate too much.
Also, in expressions of quantity not all adverbs are paired with "de".
J'ai environ deux litres de lait. — I have around two liters of milk.
Ça dure seulement trois heures. — It only lasts three hours.
Confusing Words
Be careful about the faux amis that appear in this unit. Many of them look like English adverbs
with a different ending, but they may have an entirely different meaning.
Actuellement
The French adverb actuellement means "currently" or "at the moment", not "actually".
Il est actuellement fermé. — It is currently closed.
Mon mari est sans emploi actuellement. — My husband is unemployed currently.
To translate "actually", use en fait ("in fact") or en réalité ("in reality"). This conveys the notion that
the rest of the sentence should be surprising to the listener.
Nous lisons très rarement, en fait. — We read very rarely, actually.
En réalité, il va en Amérique. — Actually, he is going to America.
Alternatively, effectivement or réellement can translate as "actually", but these are more
confirmatory than contradictory in tone.
Effectivement, ton gâteau est très bon. — Indeed, your cake is very good.
Cet animal existe réellement. — That animal does really exist.
Effectivement
Effectivement is also misleading because it means "really" or "indeed". To say "effectively" or
"efficiently", use efficacement.
On n'utilise pas cet outil efficacement. — We aren't using this tool effectively.
Vous pouvez apprendre plus efficacement avec Duolingo. — You can learn more
efficiently with Duolingo.
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Définitivement
There is a difference between the adverbs "definitively" and "definitely". Most commonly,
"definitively" describes a conclusive ending or final resolution. The French
adverb définitivement also carries this meaning.
Elle part définitivement. — She is leaving for good.
Ils ont conclu définitivement la negotation. — They concluded the negotiation definitively.
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Reflexive Verbs
A pronominal verb is always paired with a reflexive pronoun that agrees with the subject and
(almost) always precedes its verb. In "Verbs: Present 3", you learned about reflexive verbs,
which describe actions being done by the subject to the subject.
When a pronominal verb is inverted in a formal question, its reflexive pronoun stays before the
verb.
Reciprocal Verbs
Another type of pronominal verb, the reciprocal verb, is used with plural subject pronouns and
describes when multiple people act upon each other.
Ils s'aiment. — They love each other.
Les filles se parlent. — The girls speak to each other.
Vous vous embrassez. — You are kissing each other.
Nous nous téléphonions souvent dans ce temps-là. — We used to call each other often
back then.
Recall from "Pronouns 1" that you can distinguish between reflexive and reciprocal meanings by
appending certain pronouns.
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Passive Pronominal Verbs
A pronominal verb can be used in a passive sense with an inanimate subject in the third-person,
often the indefinite pronoun ça.
Ça se voit. — It shows. (Lit, "It sees itself.")
Ça se peut. — It is possible.
Le sol se nettoie facilement. — The floor can be cleaned easily.
La réunion s'est bien passée. — The meeting went well.
This construction may sound unusual to Anglophones, but it is a common alternative to using the
passive voice when one wishes to avoid naming an agent.
Les vers se sont écrits ainsi. — The verses have been written this way.
Ce mot, comment se prononce-t-il ? — How is this word pronounced?
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Objects and Agreement
Pronominal verbs have the same transitivity as their non-pronominal forms. For
instance, appeler is transitive, so s'appeler is also transitive. When a pronominal verb is
transitive, the reflexive pronoun is its direct object.
Elles se sont appelées. — They called each other.
On se lève maintenant. — We are getting up now.
When a pronominal verb is intransitive, se is its indirect object.
Elles se sont téléphoné. — They called each other.
Ces trois rois se sont succédé. — These three kings succeeded each other.
Some verbs can have both direct and an indirect objects, in which case the reflexive pronoun is
the indirect object.
When describing actions on parts of the body, Francophones avoid using possessive pronouns;
instead, they use reflexive verbs with definite articles whenever possible.
In the next examples, the participles agree with preceding direct objects.
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Infinitives 3
As you learned before, an infinitive can act as a noun (where gerunds might be used in English).
Impersonal Expressions
When you use the impersonal construction il est + adjective + de, keep in mind that ilmust be a
dummy subject. If it's a real subject, you must use à instead of de.
Il est impossible de vivre sur cette île. — It is impossible to live on that island.
Il est facile de comprendre le livre. — It is easy to understand the book.
Ce problème est difficile à résoudre. — That problem is difficult to solve.
Écrire un livre ? Il est difficile à faire. — Writing a book? It is difficult to do.
In informal usage, c'est can replace the impersonal il est.
C'est difficile de terminer ce travail en une journée. — It's hard to finish that work in one
day.
C'est mieux d'éviter cette zone. — It's better to avoid that area.
Causative Faire
Recall from "Verbs: Infinitive 1" that faire may precede a verb to indicate that the subject causes
that action to happen. This is especially common when describing food preparation.
Il fait bouillir le thé. — He boils the tea.
J'aime faire griller du poulet. — I like grilling chicken.
Ils font pousser des fruits et des légumes. — They grow fruits and vegetables.
Faire can also be used to indicate that the subject has caused someone else to perform an
action.
Je fais partir mon ami. — I am making my friend leave.
Désolé, je vous fais subir mon humeur. — Sorry, I am making you put up with my mood.
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Past Participle Usage
As you learned in "Verbs: Compound Past", the passé composé is formed with an auxiliary verb
(e.g. avoir) and a past participle (e.g. terminé).
Il a terminé son travail. — He finished his work.
Nous avons aimé ce repas. — We liked that meal.
Normally, auxiliaries should be conjugated to agree with their subjects. However, if an auxiliary is
part of a double-verb construction with a semi-auxiliary (e.g. sembler), the auxiliary verb will be an
infinitive.
Il semble avoir terminé son travail. — He seems to have finished his work.
Ces lettres semblent avoir confirmé nos craintes. — Those letters seem to have
confirmed our fears.
However, past participles can sometimes also act as adjectives in both French and English.
Keep this in mind for the next unit, where you will learn the passive voice.
Confusing Verbs
Remember from "Verbs: Present 3" that manquer means "to miss", but with flipped pronoun
positions as compared to English. If it helps, you can think of manquer as "to be missed by".
Vous me manquez. — I miss you.
Je vous manque. — You miss me.
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Passive Voice
The most common grammatical voice is the active voice, which describes a clause whose
subject is also the agent of the verb in the clause. For instance, when "Hugo throws a ball", Hugo
is both the subject of the clause and the agent that performs the verb.
On the other hand, the passive voice describes any clause where the subject is not the agent of
the verb in the clause. For instance, when "The ball is thrown by Hugo", the subject ("the ball") is
actually the direct object of the verb. The passive voice in both English and French is constructed
using the copula "to be" and the past participle of the action verb. The past participle must agree
with the subject here.
L'ennemie est battue. — The enemy is beaten.
Le pain est mangé. — The bread is being eaten.
La balle est lancée par Hugo. — The ball is thrown by Hugo.
C'est fait par ordinateur. — It is done by computer.
Notice that the agent of a verb in the passive voice can be introduced by the
preposition par ("by"). However, you can also use de with verbs expressing emotions or feelings,
like aimer or respecter.
La princesse est aimée de ses amis. — The princess is loved by her friends.
Je suis respecté des citoyens. — I am respected by the citizens.
Le magicien est adoré des enfants. — The magician is loved by children.
La grand-mère est entourée de sa famille. — The grandmother is surrounded by her
family.
The passive voice is useful for emphasizing a verb's object or avoiding naming a verb's agent.
Tout est fait par ordinateur ces jours-ci. — Everything is done by computer these days.
L'histoire était oubliée. — The tale was forgotten.
L'histoire n'est pas écrite à l'avance. — History is not written in advance.
Le travail est loin d'être terminé. — The work is far from being finished.
However, Francophones often avoid the passive voice by using the imprecise pronoun on in the
active voice.
On fait tout avec des ordinateurs. — We/They do everything with computers.
On oublie souvent les règles. — We often forget the rules.
On va mener une étude. — We/They will conduct a study.
On est en train de perdre du temps. — We are wasting time.
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The Passive Passé Composé
Remember that when multiple verbs are combined in a single construct, only the first verb can be
conjugated; any following verbs must be infinitives or participles. When using the passive voice in
the passé composé (or another compound tense), être takes avoir as an auxiliary.
Thus, avoir must be conjugated, followed by être and the action verb in past participle form.
Ce document a été lu par mon père. — That document has been read by my father.
Ce chat a été adopté par des gens gentils. — That cat was adopted by some nice
people.
Un rapport a été demandé. — A report has been requested.
Tes sacs ont été mis devant. — Your bags were put in front.
Note that the past participle of the action verb still must agree with the subject (as usual
for être verbs).
La recette a été écrite par le chef. — The recipe has been written by the chef.
Les robes ont été vendues. — The dresses have been sold.
La clé a été perdue. — The key was lost.
Les portes ont été ouvertes. — The doors were opened.
Note that être is intransitive and cannot have a direct object, so its past participle été is always
invariable.
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Subjunctive Present
Unlike the English subjunctive, the French subjunctive mood is common and required, in writing
and in speech, even in informal conversations.
Conjugation:
The French subjunctive has 4 tenses: present, imperfect, past and pluperfect. There is no future
tense and among the 3 past tenses, only the subjunctive past is commonly used.
Pronou Ending
n
Je -e
Tu -es
Il/Elle -e
Nous -ions
Vous -iez
Ils/Elles -ent
In most cases, the subjunctive is formed by removing the –ent ending from the ils/ellesindicative
present form, and then adding the subjunctive endings.
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-er verbs:
For je, tu, il, elle, on, ils, elles, the subjunctive present form and pronunciation are identical to
those of the indicative present:
manger — stem = mang-ent
Subject Verb
que je mange
que tu manges
qu’il/elle/on mange
qu’ils/elles mangent
For nous, vous, the subjunctive present form and pronunciation are similar to those of the
indicative imperfect:
Subject Verb
que nous mangions
que vous mangiez
-ir and –re verbs:
For je, tu, il, elle, on, the subjunctive present is different from the indicative present, because the
stem is different. Yet the pronunciation is the same as that of the ils/ellesindicative present.
finir — stem = finiss-ent
Subject Verb
que je finisse
que tu finisses
qu’il/elle/ finisse
on
qu’ils/elle finisse
s nt
dormir — stem = dorm-ent
Subject Verb
que je dorme
que tu dormes
qu’il/elle/on dorme
qu’ils/elles dorment
comprendre — stem = comprenn-ent
Subject Verb
que je comprenne
que tu comprennes
qu’il/elle/on comprenne
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qu’ils/elles comprennent
For nous, vous, the subjunctive present form and pronunciation are similar to those of the
indicative imperfect:
finir — stem = finiss-ent
Subject Verb
que nous finissions
que vous finissiez
dormir — stem = dorm-ent
Subject Verb
que nous dormions
que vous dormiez
comprendre — stem = comprenn-ent
Subject Verb
que nous comprenions
que vous compreniez
Other common and irregular verbs:
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Past Subjunctive
From the Tips and Notes in Subj. Pres, you have already learned that:
Unlike the English subjunctive, the French subjunctive is common and required, in writing
and in speech, even in informal conversations.
A subjunctive is required if the main clause has verbs of likes/dislikes, fear, wish, doubt,
regret, order, obligation or necessity.
In most cases, the subject in the subordinate clause is different from that in the main
clause (otherwise you will use an infinitive).
Usually, the subordinate clause is introduced by the conjunction que, or other
conjunctions, like avant que, bien que, afin que, pour que, quoique. (Yet après que needs
an indicative.)
Some impersonal expressions automatically prompt a subjunctive, like: il faut que, il est
bon que, c’est bien que, il est nécessaire que, il est important que.
Some verbs that are usually constructed with the indicative switch to the subjunctive
when they are in the negative, like penser and croire.
Some relative clauses can be found in subjunctive, when the main clause has such
expressions as le seul qui/que, le premier qui/que, le dernier qui/que.
The French subjunctive has 4 tenses: Present, Imperfect, Past and Pluperfect. There is
no future tense and of the 3 past tenses, only the Subjunctive Past is commonly used.
Conjugation
The Subjunctive Past is a compound tense and as such, the verb uses the same
auxiliary être or avoir as in the indicative mood, and the same rules of agreement are applied in
the past participle (Re. Tips and Notes in V Compound Past & V Compound Past 2).
To form a subjunctive past, the auxiliary is conjugated in subjunctive present, and the past
participle of the verb is added.
Avoir verb:
Subject Verb
que j’ aie mangé
que tu aies mangé
qu’il/elle ait mangé
que nous ayons mangé
que vous ayez mangé
qu’ils aient mangé
Être verb:
cx
Subject Verb
que je sois allé(e)
que tu sois allé(e)
qu’il soit allé
qu’elle soit allée
que nous soyons allé(e)s
que vous soyez allé(e)s
qu’ils soient allés
qu’elles soient allées
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Sequence of events
Since there is no Subjunctive Future and the Subjunctive Imperfect and Pluperfect are no longer
used in contemporary French, you will have to use :
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